Discover what the last mile of capitalism is: fulfillment work in Walmart China and Polish retail. An analysis of exploita...

The article analyzes the evolution of retail toward a merchant-platform capital model, using Walmart China as a laboratory of modern capitalism. The author introduces the concept of fulfillment work—the material and technological effort necessary to transform the potential value of a commodity into real profit. The text shows how traditional retail merges with digital infrastructure, where algorithms take control over the worker's time and body (e.g., the picker). A key element of the analysis is the transition from an economy of price to an economy of fear, in which the consumer pays for the reduction of uncertainty and convenience, while the cost of this convenience is shifted onto the retail precariat. This is a study of how digital optimization transforms daily work into a tool of control and discipline.